"Use the water guns, use the water guns!!"
The South Korean commander shouted frantically, his voice hoarse and unpleasant from the dry air underground.
The soldiers holding high-pressure nozzles immediately positioned themselves and aimed them at the Burrower Beneath crawling out of the magma river.
At this moment the commander wished fervently that his soldiers were firefighters. If they were a professional firefighting team, they could have sprayed water a few seconds faster. Every second was precious for Seoul at this moment.
"Keep at it! The bugs are going crazy!"
As the mature Burrower Beneath crawled out of the magma, its juvenile brethren also emitted sharp screams and rushed toward the soldiers. Each soldier stood firm in their position, shooting at the creatures crawling on the walls.
Due to their desperate efforts, more and more juvenile burrowers emerged, overwhelming the defenders. Some soldiers were unable to hold the line and were pounced upon by these creatures. Although the juvenile burrowers were not strong, their lethal tentacles were difficult for human skin to resist.
The creatures that landed on the soldiers directly pierced their bodies with their short tentacles, puncturing their internal organs. Those that landed on faces would forcefully insert their tentacles into the mouth, nose, or eyes, instantly destroying the human brain. The scene was horrifying, with screams and flesh flying everywhere.
Despite witnessing this terrifying scene, every South Korean soldier remained fearless. Whenever someone fell, another soldier quickly took their place, staunchly blocking the Burrowers' strongest attacks.
Meanwhile, the troops with high-pressure water guns finally began spraying water. The pressure was so strong that it could cut through steel like a knife. However, this sharpness was not just a deadly attack for the mature Burrower Beneath. For these creatures, water itself was the most lethal weapon.
As soon as the water hit the Burrower Beneath, it emitted the sharpest and most piercing scream since its appearance. Even the cave seemed to shudder at its agony.
Although the water seemed to be effective against the creature's fear of water, its body quickly deteriorated upon contact. Its skin rotted into a thick slurry, a disgusting sight that brought relief to the soldiers.
"Water is indeed effective, and it's even too effective!"
Seeing the Burrower Beneath so afraid of water, the commander relaxed. The creature wasn't that strong after all, and killing them by exploiting their weaknesses seemed quite easy for humans.
The cheers gradually died down, and everyone looked at the ground covered with bodies in silence. Human bodies, broken limbs, disfigured bodies torn apart by the bugs, and the strange-colored blood scattered all over the cave. In the battle just now, this unit lost more than half of its troops, so even though it was a victory, it was a pyrrhic one.
But compared to the significance of this victory, these sacrifices seemed worthwhile.
"Take down the soldiers' nameplates. They are all warriors who sacrificed themselves for the country. After this is over, there must be a state funeral. Write down their deeds in textbooks for future generations to know. Send people to extract the cell tissues from the dead bugs for research. We don't know if there are other bugs in this cave, but our situation is already very bad."
"Everyone, take a break for now and leave here immediately. After returning to the surface, let the higher-ups send a new unit to sweep the underground caves here. Make sure to eliminate every single bug and leave no future troubles!"
The commander began to give consecutive orders, and the soldiers, dragging their tired bodies, quickly got busy.
The commander took out a communicator. He didn't know how many meters underground they were now, and the signal here could have been better, making it difficult to communicate with the surface. However, the instruments also recorded the route they took, so they could handle getting lost on the way back.
"Rumble, rumble, rumble..."
Just as the commander finally relaxed, thinking that everything was over, the ground under his feet suddenly began to shake.
"What's going on?"
The violent shaking caused many people to fall to the ground, and chunks of rocks fell from the ceiling. The speed of the ground shaking began to accelerate, almost making it impossible for people to stand up.
“Blub blub blub—”
The nearby magma river also boiled, and cracks appeared in the surrounding rock walls.
"What's happening? Didn't we eliminate the bugs? Could there be other bugs?"
The commander shouted in panic. He suddenly remembered the behavior of the Burrower Beneath before it died, and his heart sank. Thinking about being underground, with such a large tremor suddenly occurring, wasn't this the precursor to an earthquake?!
Could it be that we failed? Is Seoul about to fall?!